Seasons of Love
by Orange Bulldog
Summary: A new girl joins Glee in early S2 and shows interest in Brittany.  AU after that. Eventually will be Brittana.
1. Chapter 1

I realized recently that I had not quite finished or posted this story. It's a bit out of date now, with everything that's happened, but I still like it as an AU so here you go. I think it'll be 10 parts.

It begins shortly after RHPS and after that, diverges from canon (obviously, as there's an OC). I started this fic after Duets, when I was sure Brittany was gay and thought Santana was probably bi. Since it's sort of AU I'm leaving Britt gay and will probably just not categorize Santana.

I do not own Glee.

* * *

><p>"Mr. Schue! I got us a new recruit!" Mercedes was a few minutes late for Glee, but she came in followed by another girl. "She just moved here, and her family joined my church. I heard her sing on sunday and said she just had to join Glee."<p>

"That's great, Mercedes. Hi there. What's your name?"

"Alexandra. But you can call me Alex." The new girl was fairly tall, and had her hair styled in short twists.

"All right, Alex, well, we have auditions for Glee, but if you aren't ready with a song you could do it next time."

"No, that's fine, I can sing something." She thought for a minute, then leaned over to the pianist while Mercedes sat down.

_Give me one reason to stay here - and I'll turn right back around_  
><em>Give me one reason to stay here - and I'll turn right back around<em>  
><em>Said I don't want leave you lonely<em>  
><em>You got to make me change my mind<em>

Alex walked slowly about the room as she sang. Her voice was rich and strong. Brittany was transfixed.

"I love this song." She whispered to Santana.

Santana had never heard this song, but she didn't like the way Brittany was looking at this new girl. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared her best Santana death glare at the singer.

_Baby I got your number and I know that you got mine_  
><em>But you know that I called you, I called too many times<em>  
><em>You can call me baby, you can call me anytime<em>  
><em>But you got to call me<em>

Alex saw the blonde cheerleader watching her sing, and she locked eyes with her. Before moving her attention on, she gave her a little wink. She didn't notice the dark-haired cheerleader shooting her daggers with her eyes.

The new girl finished her song and looked over at the teacher questioningly.

Mr. Schue grinned. "Well, we haven't had to turn anyone away yet, and I don't think we're going to start with you! That was great, Alex, find a seat."

She took a seat next to Mercedes with a smile.

Santana raised her hand.

"Yes Santana?"

"Mr. Schue, since we have 7 girls and 5 boys, I was thinking one of the girls should dance with the boys when we do partner things. Since dancing with Artie is easiest, maybe Alex should dance with him and Brittany can dance with me."

Brittany nodded. "I'm good at being a boy for Santana."

Kurt giggled. He shut up when Santana glared at him. Maybe she hadn't thought this through.

"I don't know, Brittany, we can always arrange something for you four that is different."

"No, I want to. I used to dance boy parts in ballet when I was little, because I was tallest. Ooh, do I get to wear the boy clothes? And make my hair look short?"

"I think Brittany would make a dashing boy." Kurt said.

"She's more of one than you." Santana shot at him.

"Um, Santana, Kurt was agreeing with you." Mercedes pointed out.

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

"Okay, fine, we can try it and see. Mike, teach Brittany the male dance steps on the song we're working on. Santana, why don't you help Alex learn her part, and everyone else, well, practice never hurt anyone."

Alex came over to Santana with a smile. "Hi."

Santana scowled at her. "Look, girl, I don't know what you were all about in that song, but stay away from Brittany. She's special." She crossed her arms over her chest.

Alex's eyes widened. "Hey, whoa, sorry, I was just playing. You two together?"

"What? No! We're not like that. She's my best friend."

"Is she single, then?"

Santana laughed. "Well, between hookups, maybe. See, Britt and I don't really…date. We hook up. I think she's had sex with about half the football team by now. And the others just can't hook up with her because they have girlfriends."

"Um, okay. That sounds pretty sad to me, but if it works for you…"

"Girls! Dancing?"

Santana rolled her eyes and got down to work.

* * *

><p>That Friday night, Santana spent the night at Brittany's house. They hadn't hooked up since after watching Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury get it on, and though Santana wouldn't admit it, she missed her friend's kisses.<p>

"Want to watch a movie?" Brittany asked, shutting the door behind them.

Santana raised her eyebrow and shook her head slightly.

"What do you want to do?"

Santana crooked her finger at Brittany and the blonde's face split into a big grin. "Oh! Okay. I wasn't sure if you wanted to do that anymore."

"Britt?"

"Uh huh?"

"Too much talking."

Santana grabbed her friend by the waist and pulled her close, capturing her lips in a kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mr. Schue! I found a song for us to sing!" Brittany bounced into the room.

Will braced himself. Last time she had suggested a song, it had been the song that never ends. She had been really upset when she found out that in fact, you could just stop singing it whenever you wanted.

"What's that, Brittany?"

"Well, see, I was watching Rent last night."

"I love Rent." Alex said.

"Me too! It's like, my third favorite movie ever."

"What's your favorite?" Kurt asked.

"Well, it's a tie between Imagine Me-"

"Um, anyway, the song?" Santana interrupted her. She knew quite well that Brittany's current favorite movies were Imagine Me and You and But I'm a Cheerleader. It wasn't her fault. The blonde girl had found them on her own. She was doing that a lot lately, watching lesbian movies. Santana wasn't even sure how she was finding them, since she normally couldn't turn on a computer without help. They made her uncomfortable, mostly because she didn't like how much she liked them too.

Most of the kids weren't really paying attention to the conversation between Alex and Brittany, but Alex had an irritatingly knowing look on her face, like she knew exactly what movie Brittany was talking about.

"Right. Well, there's this great song called Seasons of Love. And when they were singing it, I could just see us doing it. It's almost perfect. Well, except we don't have a good Collins. But I think Mike could do."

The club started talking amongst themselves.

"Well, Brittany, it's been awhile since I've seen Rent, and since you brought it to us, why don't you tell us what you were thinking?"

Brittany grinned.

"Okay, well, it doesn't really matter for this song I guess, but I was thinking that Santana would be Mimi, and Sam would be Roger. Kurt is Angel, and Mike is Collins. And Finn is Mark. And then Alex is Joanne, and I'm Maureen."

"Ordinarily, I'd be upset at not being a main character. And I'd clearly be a better Maureen than you. But since she doesn't have a solo in Seasons of Love, I suppose that's okay with me." Rachel said haughtily.

Santana snorted. "Right. Maureen is supposed to be smoking."

Brittany nodded. "Boys and girls, everyone wants me. Also, I'm a better singer and dancer than you. Remember, Britney Spears taught me that."

"Why is it that when Brittany says things like that, it doesn't sound conceited?" Mercedes wondered aloud.

"Maybe because it's kind of true." Santana stuck up for her friend.

"Or because she's citing a hallucination of a pop star?" Kurt hazarded a guess.

"Well I for one would love for you to be my Maureen." Alex pretended to bow exaggeratedly.

Santana glowered. Brittany grinned.

"Okay, so we all stand in a line, and hold hands. I think the couples should stand together. Maybe in the middle."

"So, in the movie, Joanne sings the female solos. But in the stage version, it's a chorus member. I think Mercedes would be great on those parts." Rachel said.

"Oh I know girl. I know the song. I'm all on that." She looked at Alex questioningly.

"Don't look at me, I can't hit those notes." The taller girl said. "I'll take the first one if you take the second one."

"Deal." Mercedes agreed, and they fist-bumped with a laugh.

"Um, doesn't Collins have a solo? I don't want to do a solo." Mike said hesitantly. "Maybe Finn could do it instead." Brittany agreed. "I told you, Collins is the one I wasn't sure about."

"Great job everyone. I think this song could definitely help us take victory at Sectionals. Good work Brittany." Mr. Schue praised her at the end of practice. The blonde girl beamed.

"Hey Brittany, are you free tomorrow after school? I feel like I'm not getting some of the dance steps on that Backstreet Boys song. Can you help me practice?" Alex asked as the other went to pick up their things.

"Sure! Oh. I have Cheerios at 4. But before that. Yes."

"Great. I'll see you here right after school."

* * *

><p>"I think you've got it. Just a little more hip motion and you'll be great." Brittany praised her student. They'd only been practicing half an hour, and Alex was already better than Tina, Rachel, or Quinn, in Brittany's opinion. It was great knowing the boy steps, it made helping the other girls practice easier. Plus, it meant she actually got to dance with the girls.<p>

"Break time?" Alex asked, grabbing some water bottles as they sat down in two chairs in the front row. "You can tell me all the gossip from Glee. Sounds like there's a lot of it. Anything I should know?"

Brittany cocked her head. "I sort of stop paying attention to them sometimes."

Alex laughed. Brittany liked the way her laugh sounded. "Okay then. Well, let's start with who's hooked up with who."

"Oh, okay, I know that. Well, Quinn and Finn used to date. Except Quinn had sex with Puck – oh but he's not here, he's in jail, I forget why. So Quinn had sex with Puck and got pregnant. So Finn broke up with her, and then he started dating Rachel."  
>"Wait, Quinn was pregnant?"<p>

Brittany nodded. "She had a baby. I think. I think she gave it away. I guess she must've because she doesn't have it anymore."

"Oookay. Okay so Finn and Quinn, and now Finn and Rachel."

"Yep. Then Tina and Artie used to date, but now Tina's dating Mike, because they are both Asian. Also now Sam and Quinn are together. I guess because they are both blond."

"How about Mercedes, and Kurt, and you and Santana?"

"Oh well Kurt is capital G gay. He wasn't sure for awhile last year so I made out with him, but then he decided he was, and he only wanted to make out with boys. I told him that you don't really have to like the people you make out with but he said he wanted to." Brittany shrugged. "Mercedes hasn't dated anyone in Glee. Oh wait. She dated Puck. I don't remember why. Santana hooks up with Puck a lot. And she had sex with Finn. And I hooked up with Puck and Mike a long time ago. Before Glee. And I hooked up with Artie but that was mostly because I was mad at Santana."

Alex was trying to follow all of this, but was getting confused. "Wait so…you've dated all of the guys in Glee except Finn?"

"Not dated. Sex isn't dating. Also I think I hooked up with Finn last year, but I'm not sure. There's a lot of guys on the football team and I don't always remember. He wouldn't hook up with anyone else once he started dating Quinn."

"Isn't it weird to have hooked up with everyone?"

"Well not everyone. I haven't hooked up with most of the girls. And it's not like I dated them so it's not weird like it was when Quinn was all mad at Finn for dating Rachel."

Alex's ears perked up on the word "most." So Brittany had hooked up with at least one girl in Glee, huh?

"So…why do you hook up with people you don't really like? If you don't mind my asking."

Brittany shrugged. "They are okay. I don't like any boys more than others, so I guess it doesn't really matter which one I'm making out with."

Santana appeared at the doorway, giving Alex a glare.

"Time for practice, Britt."

"Bye Alex!" The blonde girl bounded off, linking pinkies with Santana as they met.

* * *

><p>"Hey Alex, you want a ride?" Mercedes said, seeing her fellow Glee-clubber walking towards the bus circle.<p>

"Oh yeah, sure. I usually ride with my brother but he had to leave early for a doctor's appointment today. Thanks!"

"So, how do you like Glee?"

"Oh, it's great. I wasn't in choir at my old school, but I've been in the church choir ever since I was little. This is a nice change."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Hey so…I've been meaning to talk to you, actually. About Brittany."

"What about her?"

"Well…Kurt and I think you like her."

"I do like her."

"I mean, LIKE like."

"Oh. Well, yes. I do."

"See, the thing with Brittany is…Santana."

"Yeah, what is going on with those two. I can't figure them out."

"Well, we're not really sure, but we think they hook up. Brittany said something once about how they had sex. And I know, Brittany says all sorts of strange things, but Santana didn't exactly correct her. And they are really close."

"I asked her, you know. If they were together. She said no."

"I know, but…Santana just gets really touchy if anyone tries to date Brittany. Hooking up is fine, but dating? She went on like, one date with Artie and Santana was in a bad mood for a week and totally sabotaged the whole thing."

"So… what I'm hearing is Brittany does like girls, maybe, but might be in some weird secret relationship with Santana?"

"Exactly. Just…be careful, girl, okay?"


	3. Chapter 3

Sectionals went off without a hitch. They hadn't ended up doing any songs with everyone partnered up, so Brittany hadn't gotten to be Santana's boy. She was very proud of her friend though – she'd sung her first solo, Valerie. Brittany and Mike had done a really fun swing dance and Santana had been amazing. She hadn't been able to restrain herself from slapping her ass before she started, and when she was supposed to come towards Santana and dance next to her, her friend had surprised her by making what seemed to her to be a really sexual motion with her finger. After that upbeat song, they'd changed tempos entirely and moved to stand in their line for Seasons of Love. Rachel had complained again that she should be Maureen, so they'd compromised and stood on opposite sides of Alex, but Brittany knew who was who. To Finn's relief, when Puck had come back shortly before the competition, he'd volunteered to hold Kurt's hand and sing Collins' solo. As the last notes faded away the audience stood up and cheered. Walking offstage, Alex squeezed Brittany's hand before letting it go.

The Glee club decided to have a party to celebrate their Sectionals win. Surprisingly, Rachel volunteered her house, and her fathers even agreed to go out and leave them unchaperoned. Of course, this meant that alcohol appeared. Alex was enjoying seeing the Cheerios in normal clothes. She'd only seen Quinn, Santana, and Brittany in their Cheerios outfits and their Sectionals costumes. Santana was wearing a really tight top and jeans that she must have squeezed into, Quinn was wearing a dress, and Brittany was wearing a tube top with loose-fitting jeans that hugged her hips. All three had their hair down, another unusual look. Brittany also had a cute newsboy hat on. Alex had thought she looked hot before, but she was a total different type of hot dressed like this.

Puck and Finn showed up fashionably late.

Santana sauntered over to him. "Hey Puck."

"Looking fine, Santana. We got drinks here?"

She headed off with him to get a drink. Brittany's eyes followed them sadly.

"Hey Brittany, what's wrong?" Alex asked, coming over to lean on the wall beside her. She sipped a drink.

"Puck's back." The blonde said simply. She tipped back the rest of her own drink.

"So? He's good, right, don't we want him back?"

"When Puck's around, Santana doesn't need me to be her warm rock. She has sex with him instead of me."

"So you're jealous. Did you tell her that?"

Brittany nodded. "She said she likes boys."

"So…why do you let her get away with that?"

The blonde girl shrugged.

"You deserve someone who treats you better than that."

Brittany turned and looked her in the eye. "Want to know a secret?"

Alex leaned closer. "Sure."

"I don't like boys."

"I don't either." Alex whispered in her ear. She leaned back away. "So, why date them?"

"Santana said I should." Brittany said uncertainly.

"I think you spend too much time thinking about what Santana thinks." Alex said, brushing a bit of hair behind Brittany's ear. "You should do what you want to do."

Brittany looked into her warm brown eyes. "What I want to do?" she asked, moving closer.

Alex nodded slightly, swallowing nervously as Brittany closed the gap and kissed her.

Unfortunately, a Glee party wasn't a great choice for a first kiss. Artie saw it first, and started whooping. Mike looked over, stared, and got smacked by Tina for staring. Kurt and Mercedes started whispering frantically, and some money changed hands. Nobody paid attention to them, though, because Santana and Puck returned and the room went quiet. Brittany and Alex pulled away, but hands that had linked during the kiss stayed linked as the other cheerleader stalked over to them.

"What did I SAY about staying away from Brittany?"

"What you said was that she was single. You said you two weren't together, and I think that Brittany should do what she wants to do."

"Brittany wants to do what I want her to do."

"No, I wanted to kiss Alex." The blonde piped up.

"Brittany, we've been over this. If you kiss Alex, people are going to treat you like they treat mister homo over there. Do you want to get tossed in dumpsters and get slushied?"

"You know, I could be wrong, but I think people would treat a hot girl who makes out with other hot girls a little differently than they treat Kurt." Artie pointed out.

"Anyway, that's Brittany's decision to make." Rachel said.

"Ug, whatever, this party's lame. Puck, let's go." Santana stormed out of the room. Puck, not having hooked up with a girl in weeks, followed her like an eager puppy.

Brittany watched her go sadly. Nobody spoke, unsure of what was going to happen to the party. Finally Mike Chang spoke up.

"So…Rachel, got any good dance music?"

Alex reluctantly let go of Brittany's hand as everyone else pointedly ignored them.

"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause trouble."

Brittany grabbed her hand again. "No. She makes out with Puck all the time even when it made me sad. I want to make out with you. I don't care if it makes her sad." She leaned in and kissed Alex again. "Want to dance with me?"

* * *

><p>Alex was a little nervous walking in to school on Monday morning. She really liked Brittany, but she knew Santana was a little crazy. Also, she wasn't sure if Brittany wanted to actually date her. She saw the blonde girl first, staring into her locker.<p>

"You have math first."

Brittany looked up with a dazzling grin. "Thanks! I always forget…"

"I know. Your math class is next to mine and you walk into our room, late, about half the time."

There was still a few minutes to go before class started, so they stood in awkward silence for a minute. Alex decided to get it over with.

"Do you want to go on a date with me?" she asked.

"Really? A real one?" her face lit up, then fell. "I'm only supposed to go on dates with boys."

"Brittany, you can do anything you want to do. So do you? Want to?"

The cheerleader nodded.

Alex grinned. "Great. Friday? I'll borrow my brother's car, and we can go to the movies, or something."

The bell rang, signaling them to go to class. As they headed off, Alex felt Brittany's warm hand in hers.

"Is this okay?" the blonde girl asked.

Alex just grinned.


	4. Chapter 4

Brittany wasn't sure what she was supposed to do or wear on a date with a girl. It was confusing, but then, lots of things were confusing to her. She and Santana usually wore their Cheerio outfits on dates (they usually wore their Cheerio outfits everywhere) but she didn't think she wanted to do that. On the other hand, Alex was picking her up, and they were going to dinner and bowling, so that sounded pretty much like most of the dates she'd had with boys. She finally decided on a nice pair of jeans, a slinky top, and one of her favorite hats.

Dinner was nice, but Brittany got confused again when the check came.

"Wait, the boy is supposed to pay. But there isn't a boy. Which one of us is going to pay?"

Alex smiled. "First of all, even in straight couples, I think that's from like, the 50s, but basically, we can do whatever feels right. How about I pay for dinner and you pay for bowling?"

That sounded reasonable to Brittany. "Being a lesbian is confusing." She admitted.

Alex laughed. But it seemed like she was agreeing with her, not laughing at her, like most laughter around Brittany seemed to be.

"Sometimes it is confusing." Alex agreed.

Brittany was a surprisingly good bowler. Once she thought about it, Alex wasn't really that surprised, as it seemed like the blonde girl was good at most things involving her body, rather than her mind. Dancing, cheering, motocross, bowling, apparently. She briefly considered what else involving her body she might be good at…

"You don't seem to be mad that I'm beating you." Brittany said after her second turkey of the night. Turkeys were her favorite, because there was a TV screen above the lane and when you got three strikes in a row, they showed an animation of a turkey.

"Why would I be mad? You are really good though."

Brittany shrugged. "The boys that take me here get mad if I beat them. Usually they want to stop early and go make out in their car."

"I don't mind you beating me. But um…maybe they just really wanted to make out with you."

"Want to stop after this game and make out in your car?" Brittany asked with a grin.

* * *

><p>Santana stood leaning against her locker, fuming, and somewhat confused. Alex and Brittany were walking down the hallway hand-in-hand, laughing, and clearly together. Brittany wasn't supposed to date girls. Ideally, she wouldn't date anyone seriously, because that left less time to hang out with her. That had worked for them so far. They hooked up with appropriately popular boys, maybe even dated them for awhile, casually, but they always had each other, first. But Brittany hadn't even talked to her since the post-Sectionals party. Santana missed her best friend. She didn't want to admit it, but she also missed what Brittany called "sweet lady kisses" which covered everything from kissing to…well lots of other stuff. Plus, why wasn't anyone treating her differently? Nobody seemed to bat an eye as they walked down the hall together. People gave Kurt shit just for existing. She couldn't imagine what they'd do to him for kissing another guy in the hallway. Yet she watched as Brittany backed Alex against the taller girl's locker and kissed her, and nobody threw a slushy or even made a bad remark. One boy whistled at them, but as they parted, Alex grinned sweetly at him and said something that Santana couldn't quite make out, but sounded something like "the definition of lesbian is a woman who is never going to hook up with you."<p>

* * *

><p>"Brittany, can I ask you something awkward?" Alex said a few days later. The two girls were having a picnic at the park, something Brittany had always wanted to do but never been able to get a guy to come along for.<p>

"Sure."

"You and Santana…you hook up?"

Brittany nodded.

"Even when you are dating other people?"

"Well, we don't usually date anyone seriously. But anyway, Santana says it's not cheating because the plumbing's different."

"Have you um, had sex with her?"

Brittany cocked her head. "We have sweet lady kisses. It's better than sex. You can't have sex with two girls, can you? Because the plumbing's different." She said again.

Alex felt her face warm with embarrassment. "Well, you obviously can't have intercourse, but there's a lot of other things that people count as sex."

"Oh like going down on someone? They said that was a kind of sex in a movie I saw once."

"Yeah, like oral sex. Or really, I think it's anything that leads to um, an orgasm."

"Oh." Brittany said. "Then yeah, San and I have sex." She said confidently.

"Brittany, I know we've only been dating for like two weeks, but I don't really date a lot of people, and I don't date more than one at once. I don't want to be too pushy too soon, but I really don't want you to date anyone else while we're dating."

"Okay." Brittany said easily. "I wasn't going to anyway. I'm tired of dating boys that I don't really like. Dating you is way more fun."

Alex leaned in and kissed her.

"I'm glad you feel that way. But um, I was really talking more about Santana."

"But I've never dated Santana. Sex isn't dating."

"What I mean is, you know how she said the plumbing's different?"

Brittany nodded.

"Well, now that you are dating me…it isn't. So if you hook up with her, that's cheating, even by that really odd standard."

"Oh. So you don't want me to hook up with San anymore?"

"Right."

"Oh. Okay. I'm still sort of mad at her for that party anyway. If I get un-mad, we can still hang out, right, just no lady kisses?" she clarified.

"Of course. But you can get all the lady kisses you want from me." Alex said boldly.


	5. Chapter 5

Finally Santana could stand it no longer. She'd waited for Brittany to come talk to her for almost a month now, and she hadn't. They saw each other in Glee and Cheerios of course, but they had barely spoken and hadn't hung out alone since then. She decided to be the bigger person for once.

"Hey Britt-Britt." She found the blonde alone at her locker and seized her opportunity.

"Hi Santana." Brittany said. She hadn't talked to her friend in a long time, and she'd forgotten why not. She thought she'd probably done something to make Santana mad, so she was glad to see that apparently she was forgiven.

"Listen, I know we haven't hung out much lately, so I was wondering if you wanted to come over and have a sleepover this weekend? Since Friday's the last day of school before Christmas?"

Brittany thought for a moment. "I think I'm going out on Saturday with Alex. Can we do it on Friday?"

"Sure! My house? You bring a movie, I'll bring the alcohol." She grinned.

* * *

><p>Brittany and Santana talked more that week, and quickly fell back into their easy friendship, at least when Alex wasn't around, since Santana got grumpy whenever Brittany's girlfriend was nearby. So both girls were comfortable by the time Brittany arrived at Santana's house for their sleepover. They hung out, put in Bring it On (one of their all-time favorite movies), and were having a great time until Santana leaned over and placed a kiss on Brittany's neck.<p>

"Um, San, what are you doing?" she asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Getting my mack on."

Brittany pulled away.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"It's cheating."

"You never had a problem before." Santana sat up and crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed.

"I didn't have a girlfriend before." She said quietly.

Santana didn't have an answer for that one.

"Fine, whatever, let's just watch the movie."

But it wasn't fine. She hadn't really considered the fact that Brittany might be exclusive. After all, she had always come first. She pretended to fall asleep so she could avoid talking to Brittany anymore.

Brittany watched the rest of the movie sadly. She knew she'd hurt her friend, but she didn't want to be a cheater.

* * *

><p>Santana didn't talk to Brittany for the rest of Christmas break. She came back to school with a resolution not to care about the blonde girl anymore. It was simply too confusing. Anyway, they were busy getting ready for cheerleading Nationals. She was too tired at the end of the day to do anything but go home and pass out. She acknowledged Brittany in Cheerios and Glee club, but they didn't hang out alone again.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

"You want to what?" Brittany asked, sure she'd just gotten confused again. Surely Coach didn't want to-

"Shoot you out of the cannon."

"But, I don't want to die." She said.

"Oh, don't be silly. You won't die. We won't shoot you out of it until we've run plenty of test runs."

* * *

><p>Two weeks before Nationals, Sue thought the cannon was ready. Her Cheerios had perfected the rest of their routine (not that that would stop her from running them ragged for the next two weeks practicing it) and the last few test runs with the dummy had been a success.<p>

"All right Cheerios, this is officially our first full run-through." She said through her bullhorn.

Brittany had gotten over her fear since Coach and Becky had convinced her it was safe. She trusted Becky. So at the appointed time, she headed to the cannon and climbed in. A minute later, she was flying through the air. Somehow it was very different than being thrown up in a normal cheerleading stunt and she panicked, flailing her arms and legs and trying to fly. Unfortunately, this slowed her down, and she saw the ground rushing at her when the group of Cheerios who were supposed to catch her were still too far away. She screamed as she hit the ground.

Despite the fact that they hadn't been talking, Santana was the first person to her side.

"Britt, are you okay?"

Brittany shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "My leg, it hurts a lot, San. And it made a funny sound when I fell." She was clutching her left shin with both hands.

Coach Sylvester didn't handle injuries well. Her instinct when something went wrong was to yell, but she'd learned that didn't work well if something was actually broken. So she got out of there quickly.

"Dismissed, everyone. Fabray, call an ambulance. Send me a text when you know if it's broken or not."

Only a few of the Cheerios actually left, since Brittany was pretty much loved by everyone. Quinn kept most of them away from her to give her "space to breathe" but she wisely let Santana stay.

* * *

><p>Along with 9-11, Quinn also called Brittany's parents and Alex, both of whom made it to the hospital shortly after Brittany was admitted. Her parents went back to join her, and Quinn, Alex, and Santana waited. Finally, they emerged, with Brittany in a wheelchair and a bright green cast on her leg. She also had a splint on her right arm.<p>

"Alex!" she lit up, seeing her girlfriend. "You came to see me! I broke my leg. And sprained my wrist." She grabbed Alex's hand with her good one. She didn't see Santana's eyes drop sadly to the ground.

"Did you girls know the coach was planning such a dangerous stunt?" Brittany's mom asked the other two cheerleaders.

Santana and Quinn looked guiltily at each other. "Well, yes. But we figured she wouldn't do it if she thought Britt would get hurt, even if it was just because she wouldn't want to lose such an important member of the team." Quinn answered.

"She's lost her now. Brittany will be out for the rest of the year, and we'll seriously consider not letting her join again in the fall, if that woman is still coaching." Brittany's father said angrily.

"She's lost two." Santana spoke up.

"No, I'm only one person." Brittany said.

"I mean, I'm quitting too. She went too far. We should have stood up to her before, but I'm doing it now."

"Make that three." Quinn said.

Sue was livid that three of her best cheerleaders were off the squad, but nothing she said could convince Quinn and Santana to come back. Her only consolation was that she had also cost Will Shuester his best dancer.

* * *

><p>Brittany had to be in a wheelchair for a week, while her wrist healed. Alex pushed her around as much as possible, and Santana, Quinn, and the rest of the Glee club helped out when she couldn't. After her wrist was better, she switched to crutches.<p>

"My arms hurt worse than that time Coach made us do 50 pullups and 50 pushups that time in practice." She confessed to Santana the second day.

But two weeks later she was zipping around on them without a thought. She even managed to sneak up behind her girlfriend and kiss her on the neck before she noticed her.

"Oh, hi babe." Alex turned around and greeted her with a real kiss. "I was just thinking about you."

Brittany smiled sweetly. "I was thinking about you too." She rested one crutch on the lockers and reached into her backpack, pulling out a giant pink monstrosity. "I made you a Valentine." She said almost shyly.

Santana watched sadly from the end of the hall. She had just recently started to consider why it made her so angry to see Brittany and Alex together. Seeing her friend give Alex a homemade Valentine, and then a long kiss, brought up those damn FEELINGS again. She wanted Brittany to be giving HER a valentine. She wanted Brittany to be giving HER a kiss. She was in love with Brittany Pierce. Shit. Now what?

* * *

><p>Santana avoided Brittany even more for the next few weeks, trying to figure out what to do about the fact that she was in love with her. She heard her own words in her head, telling Brittany many times that she wasn't. Lies, she knew now. She'd been in love with Brittany back then too, just too scared to admit it.<p>

"Santana!" she heard a voice calling her and knew exactly who it was. She turned to see Brittany walking down the hall.

"Look, I got my cast off yesterday! I have to wear this boot thing for another few weeks but the doctor said I can probably dance by Regionals!" she looped her arm into Santana's. The darker girl felt shivers run up her spine at this contact.

"That's great, Britt." Was all she said.

Finally, Santana knew what she had to do. She talked to Mr. Shue and the next Glee practice, he announced that she had something she wanted to sing to the group. Brittany felt her heart drop when she heard the opening bars of the song.

_I would dial the numbers just to listen to your breath_

_And I would stand inside my hell and hold the hand of death_

_You don't know how far I'd go to ease this precious ache_

_And you don't know how much I'd give, or how much I can take._

By the time she reached the chorus, everyone's eyes were on Brittany. She had been holding Alex's hand when the song started, but she was conflicted. She knew what this song meant. She pulled her hand away and shrunk into herself. Santana was singing straight to her, and everyone knew it. By the time she finished the song, both girls' eyes were filled with tears.

"Brittany, I was wrong. I should have been willing to be there for you, for real, to be your…your girlfriend. I love you."

The eyes of everyone in Glee club went wide. They knew, basically, but still, had never expected Santana to be able to say it out loud.

Brittany stood up.

"I loved you too, Santana. But you're too late. I'm dating Alex. You never wanted to date me. She does." She started to walk out of the room. She couldn't stay in Glee today, not now.

"I do too, Brittany!" Tears streamed down Santana's face.

The blonde girl turned around, eyes sad. "You had your chance."

She walked out of the stunned room.

Santana waited long enough that she'd be gone when she fled the room. A minute later, Alex's phone vibrated with a text.

"U gonna come wit me or wat?"

She looked up. Everyone was watching her. "Um, I'm gonna…yeah."

* * *

><p>Somehow, word of what had gone down in Glee spread through the school. Ironically, had Santana admitted to her feelings for Brittany earlier, she probably could have come out with few problems, like Alex and Brittany. However, to come out and be turned down, by none other than Brittany Pierce, who was still known as a slut even though she'd stopped sleeping around? That had a way of messing with your reputation. Especially when you weren't on the Cheerios anymore.<p>

Santana beat up the first four girls she overheard talking about her. After that, people were more careful but by no means stopped talking. Glee club was agony. Alex and Brittany toned down the PDA slightly, but they weren't going to stop just because of her, and she knew it was unfair of her to expect them to. But she couldn't bear to watch. So she stopped coming.

After skipping four rehearsals in a row, Santana had been sat down by Mr. Shue, who had pointed out that it wasn't fair to her teammates to quit on them. She'd promised to give it until Regionals, which was two weeks away. She figured if they lost and it still hurt as much as it did, she could safely quit at that point.


	7. Chapter 7

The kids talked Mr. Shue into letting them do "Born this Way" at Regionals, through a compromise in which their entire theme was "Born" (ironic, since the previous year Beth had almost literally been born onstage). Their opening number was "Born in a Trunk" from the musical "A Star is Born" (sung by Rachel, of course) followed by "Born in the USA" (sung primarily by Finn and Puck). Aside from a little bit of harmonizing, the majority of the club did little singing during "Born in a Trunk," as was usual for Rachel's ballads by now. However, Brittany and Mike had choreographed some easy dancing that everyone could do, so they felt like they were a part of the song. "Born in the USA" was more their standard fare: a power ballad group number complete with fist pumping and belted out lyrics, and it went over well with the crowd.

The beauty of "Born this Way" was that all of the club members had a small solo. Even Mike, who usually wouldn't sing solo if his life depended on it, agreed to do one of the talking "Don't be a drag, just be a queen" sections. To everyone's surprise, Santana had actually raised her hand and requested to sing the section specifically about being gay. Mr. Shue had done better and let her start it as well.

The song started off with the group in a clump, heads down, with Santana front and center. When the spotlight hit her, she looked up and began, singing softly but with power, while everyone else was still:

_My mama told me when I was young_  
><em>We're all born superstars<em>

She stepped out of the group as the verse built:

_She rolled my hair, put my lipstick on_  
><em>In the glass of her boudoir<em>

Brittany knew she had to keep her head down, but she had it just up enough to watch the girl she'd turned down. Santana was breathtakingly good, and Brittany missed her more than she wanted to admit.

Alex stepped into the spotlight as she stepped out, and the rest of the club fanned out on stage, moving with the beat:

_"There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are"_  
><em>She said, "'Cause He made you perfect, babe"<em>  
><em>"So hold your head up, girl and you'll go far,<em>  
><em>Listen to me when I say"<em>

On the other hand, Alex was pretty awesome too. Brittany took over the lead from her girlfriend, punctuating her words with perfectly timed dance moves as the tempo became more upbeat, the rest of the group moving in unison behind her:

_I'm beautiful in my way,_  
><em>'Cause God makes no mistakes<em>  
><em>I'm on the right track, baby<em>  
><em>I was born this way<em>

Some of the male members of the group hadn't been keen on doing solos to Gaga, but after minimal cajoling Puck had been ready and willing to do his part:

_Don't hide yourself in regret,_  
><em>Just love yourself and you're set<em>  
><em>I'm on the right track, baby<em>  
><em>I was born this way<em>

Everyone sang the chorus, doing a dance reminiscent of Gaga's, choreographed by Britt:

_Ooo, there ain't no other way_  
><em>Baby, I was born this way<em>  
><em>Baby, I was born this way<em>  
><em>(Born this way)<em>  
><em>Ooo, there ain't other way<em>  
><em>Baby, I was born this way<em>  
><em>Right track, baby<em>  
><em>I was born this way<em>

Stepping forward, Kurt did the first talking solo - with plenty of vamping as only he could do:

_Don't be a drag, just be a queen_  
><em>Don't be a drag, just be a queen<em>  
><em>Don't be a drag, just be a queen<em>  
><em>Don't be!<em>

Quinn sang the next verse:

_Give yourself prudence and love your friends_  
><em>Subway kid, rejoice the truth<em>  
><em>In the religion of the insecure<em>  
><em>I must be myself, respect my youth<em>

For a straight guy, Sam had been totally happy to sing the next part. Santana thought he was pretty cool, for a guy. If she had known him better when she was not hopelessly in love with Britt, they might have gone out. He even managed to sing it in the same octave as Gaga:

_A different lover is not a sin_  
><em>Believe capital H-I-M (hey, hey, hey)<em>  
><em>I love my life, I love this record and<em>  
><em>Mi amore vole fe yah<em>

A verse of solo was just about perfect in Tina's mind, as it wasn't enough to freak out about, but it was enough to feel special, especially singing these lyrics:

_I'm beautiful in my way,_  
><em>'Cause God makes no mistakes<em>  
><em>I'm on the right track, baby<em>  
><em>I was born this way<em>

Finn had been the hardest to convince to sing Gaga. But after all the other guys, even Mike, agreed to solos, he wasn't going to be the one left out:

_Don't hide yourself in regret,_  
><em>Just love yourself and you're set<em>  
><em>I'm on the right track, baby<em>  
><em>I was born this way<em>

Everyone sang the chorus again, this time incorporating a few spins that it had taken Brittany hours to teach Sam, Finn, and Alex how to do to her satisfaction:

_Ooo, there ain't no other way_  
><em>Baby, I was born this way<em>  
><em>Baby, I was born this way<em>  
><em>Ooo, there ain't other way<em>  
><em>Baby, I was born this way<em>  
><em>I'm on the right track, baby<em>  
><em>I was born this way<em>

Mike's big moment came during the second talking part. He'd decided it was less racist for him to say "orient" than Kurt, so he'd taken this one:

_Don't be a drag, just be a queen_  
><em>Whether you're broke or evergreen<em>  
><em>You're black, white, beige, chola descent<em>  
><em>You're lebanese, you're orient<em>

And of course, Artie had chosen to sing the appropriate verse:

_Whether life's disabilities_  
><em>Left you outcast, bullied or teased<em>  
><em>Rejoice and love yourself today<em>  
><em>'Cause baby, you were born this way<em>

Santana stepped back in front of the group to sing the verse that meant the most to her. She knew it would have had meaning for three of the other members too, and she was glad they'd agreed to let her do it. It had been the hardest for her to come to terms with not being straight. With all of her heart, and proudly, she sang:

_No matter gay, straight or bi_  
><em>lesbian, transgendered life<em>  
><em>I'm on the right track, baby<em>  
><em>I was born to survive<em>

Mercedes gave her a grin as she stepped forward to sing her verse:

_No matter black, white or beige_  
><em>chola or orient made<em>  
><em>I'm on the right track, baby<em>  
><em>I was born to be brave<em>

Rachel worried that her voice wasn't "pop" enough to sing this song, but had been swept up by the enthusiasm and sung her heart out:

_I'm beautiful in my way_  
><em>'Cause God makes no mistakes<em>  
><em>I'm on the right track, baby<em>  
><em>I was born this way<em>

Though Kurt had wanted to do the drag queen section, the numbers worked out so that he the final verse too:

_Don't hide yourself in regret,_  
><em>Just love yourself and you're set<em>  
><em>I'm on the right track, baby<em>  
><em>I was born this way, yeah!<em>

As the entire group finished out the song with the repeating chorus, Santana was able to look around and see her teammates – her friends – singing their heart out, and even though her own heart still broke as her eyes swept over her blond ex-best-friend, she was very happy she'd stayed. This was where she belonged.

After the rousing applause and standing ovation the song got, she teared up a little. She had been so scared of coming out that she'd lost Brittany, but it hadn't even been that big of a deal. Nobody had slushied her, and here they were singing a song about how it was okay to be different, okay to be gay, and they'd gotten a standing ovation.

She lost it once they got backstage, sobbing almost uncontrollably. Though they had barely talked in a month, Brittany was instantly at her side.

"Honey, are you drunk?" She had only seen Santana cry a few times when she wasn't drunk. Once when Sue cancelled Nationals last year, and once when she'd told her she was staying with Alex.

Santana shook her head and cried harder, momentarily letting her blonde friend comfort her before remembering that Brittany had chosen Alex.

"I'm fine, okay, leave me alone."

Brittany sadly let go of her and walked off with most of the rest of the group. When Santana's tears subsided and she looked up, she was surprised to see which of her teammates had stayed behind.

"It gets better." Kurt said simply.

Santana wiped her eyes. "What?"

"I felt it too. It was liberating, singing that song, getting that response. Almost makes you wonder why you were scared to come out at all, right?"

Santana was silent for a minute. "I thought I was stupid, for coming out, if Brittany didn't want me, what was the point, you know? But singing that song…I'm…well I'm not sure what I am, but I'm not straight, and even if Brittany never wants me back, that's not changing. It's not just her, Kurt."

Kurt nodded silently, sensing she wasn't finished.

She looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry for being a bitch. To you. I think…I think I was scared of being found out if I was nice to you, and scared of how okay with it you were. I can't promise I'll be nice to everyone…and Berry's still a midget in toddler clothes…but it wasn't okay to be mean to you for being gay."

"Apology accepted." He said graciously. "And I'm sorry that Brittany didn't choose you."

Santana sighed. "She was right not to. I strung her along for years, hooking up with her and refusing to talk about feelings. I rejected her a lot more times than she rejected me. If Alex is good for her, I'm trying to be happy for her."

"While still hoping that Alex falls off a cliff or breaks up with Britt for no reason?" Kurt said with a smile.

Santana laughed and wiped her eyes. "Exactly."

Luckily, the third team still had to perform after New Directions, so Santana had time to pull herself together. Of course, she lost it again, along with the rest of the team, when they were announced to be the winners. But this time it was okay. She was pulled into a hug that she knew by feel was Brittany. Surprised that her friend was hugging her, and not her girlfriend, she pulled back and looked into her eyes.

"We won!" Brittany said with a grin.

Over Brittany's shoulder, Santana saw Alex, trying to hide the hurt that Brittany had leapt into Santana's arms instead of her own.

"I know, Britt. But I think your girlfriend wants to hug you too." She said sadly.

Brittany's eyes got a look of confusion as she pulled away. She had forgotten all about Alex for a moment there. There had been so many winning moments shared with Santana that it was natural to go to her first. She turned around and squealed at Alex too. A hand found Santana's as she looked away from the happy couple. Kurt squeezed gently.

* * *

><p>AN: This story is so old that I had this part written before I even heard they were going to do Born This Way. But I left it in because it's so AU by now anyway. Thanks for everyone who's reviewed and read - and I do promise it's going to be Brittana very soon! In the meantime, I have another story posted that's Brittana throughout. =)<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

Choosing Santana unconsciously at Regionals seemed to start a rough patch for Alex and Brittany. Brittany, who had never been in a serious relationship before, had a bit of a wandering eye and was very flirtatious by nature. Though she would never actually cheat now that she knew what it was, it grated on Alex's nerves. In addition, Alex was an honor roll senior stressing about college acceptances, something she hesitated to talk to her academically challenged girlfriend about. It came to a head, however, when she came to school wearing a Stanford sweatshirt and a giant grin.

Brittany didn't notice the shirt, but a senior friend of hers, whose locker was nearby, saw it and let out a whoop.

"Alex, does that shirt mean what I think it means?"

Alex grinned and nodded.

"Wow, congrats! You excited?"

"Of course! It's my first choice!"

"Sweet! Well, congrats again and see you in calc!"

Her friend high-fived her as she turned to see a confused Brittany.

"What does your shirt mean?"

"I got into Stanford!"

"What's that?"

Alex restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Brittany was awesome in SO many ways…but seriously, how was it that she was dating someone who didn't know what Stanford was?

"It's a college."

Brittany still stared at her.

"I got in. I'm going next year."

"That's a good thing, right! Is it far away?"

"It's in California."

The bell rang before Brittany could ask where California was. So during the next class break, she stopped the first Glee kid she saw, which happened to be Mercedes.

"Mercedes! Where's California?"

"It's like, by the Pacific."

"Far away?"

"Yeah, like you take a plane for hours to get there."

Brittany's face fell.

"Why?"

"Alex is going there next year for college."

"Oh she got into Stanford? That's great!"

"Why does everyone but me know about this Stanford place? And why does everyone know she wanted to go there but me?"

"Uh…you better ask your girl about that. But tell her congrats for me, ok?"

Brittany nodded.

She confronted Alex at her locker the next chance she got.

"Why didn't you tell me about Stamford?"

"It's Stanford, and I don't know, we don't talk about school stuff."

"I thought you loved me, and you are moving to California and you didn't tell me and you told everyone else?"

Alex got a guilty look on her face.

"Brittany, we're in high school. What we have…it was going to end eventually. You knew that, right?"

Brittany shook her head.

"I didn't think you'd understand about college." Alex tried again.

"Why, because I'm stupid?"

Alex hesitated just a fraction of a second too long on that question. Brittany's normally calm eyes got angry. "Do you think I'm stupid? Santana says I shouldn't let people call me stupid because I'm not. I'm just different."

"I didn't say you were stupid. But I mean…you probably won't go to college. We won't have much in common when I'm gone, and long distance is not realistic anyway."

"So why are you even bothering with me then?"

"Brittany, I care about you."

"Not enough to tell me you were applying to Sanford."

She didn't bother to correct her the second time. "What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know." She crossed her arms over her chest angrily. "But I'm mad."

"Well I'm mad too. Today should be the best day of my life – I got into STANFORD, do you know how important that is? And instead of being happy for me, my girlfriend is yelling at me."

"Well maybe I shouldn't be your girlfriend anymore."

"Maybe you shouldn't."

"You were going to break up with me when you go to California anyway."

"Probably."

"Fine." Brittany said, striding away.

* * *

><p>Less than five minutes later, Santana got a text:<p>

"Brittex broke up."

At first she scowled – she hated that stupid nickname the kids had given Brittany and Alex. Then she realized what it said. Her eyes went wide. So much for paying attention in history class. She texted Kurt back.

"u sure? when/why?"

"Alex told Mercedes. She got into Stanford and hadn't told Britt and they had a big fight in the hallway. Tina saw it too and both of them texted me."

She wasn't sure what to do. She knew she should feel bad for her friend, but honestly, she was jumping for joy. But she probably shouldn't act like that around Brittany. Her inner turmoil was interrupted by the teacher. It sounded like she had said her name a few times by the way she was saying it now.

"Earth to Santana."

She looked up. "Um, yes?"

"I asked what you thought of the point Rachel just made about the Bay of Pigs invasion."

Santana searched her mind for what they were talking about.

"Oh um…yes well because communism is bad?"

The class laughed. Rachel gave her an exasperated look.

"Thank you for that terribly original insight, Santana. If you could at least pretend to pay attention, there are only 15 more minutes until lunch."

* * *

><p>15 minutes later, she was the first out the door. Her heart wanted her to go see Britt, but her brain told her she should let the blonde girl come to her. So instead, she headed to Kurt's locker so he could fill her in on the whole thing. She'd act surprised when her friend told her again.<p>

Mercedes had been with Kurt when Santana found him, so she got to hear the story from her. They walked into the lunchroom and Santana's eyes, as usual, immediately found Brittany's blue ones, which today were shining with fresh tears. The trio headed toward where the blonde girl was sitting with Quinn, who was trying her best to be comforting. Mercedes was torn when she saw Alex sitting alone, and after wavering, decided Kurt, Santana, and Quinn could handle Brittany. She headed to sit with Alex.

"Hey girl."

"So does everyone hate me for hurting her?"

"From what you told me it was rather mutual."

"But it was my fault for not telling her about Stanford. I just really didn't think she'd understand. I'm not sure she even knew I was a senior."

Mercedes smiled at the possibility that Brittany didn't even know what year SHE was, not to mention her girlfriend.

"Look, Alex, you two were going to end anyway when you went to Cali, we all know that. Maybe it's better to hurt now than drag it out."

Alex looked over to where her ex-girlfriend was sniffling. She knew Mercedes was right, but she'd come to care deeply about that girl and she felt bad making her cry.

Santana's eyes were flashing with anger as Brittany told them about how Alex had made her feel stupid. Kurt put a hand on hers and spoke quietly.

"I wouldn't. What's done is done, and hurting her will only hurt your chances with Britt."

Santana knew he was right. But she almost couldn't stand it, seeing Brittany in pain like this. Nobody called her friend stupid.

"Honey, you don't want to be with someone who thinks you're stupid anyway. It's her loss, okay?"

Brittany managed a small smile for Santana. She was one of the only people who had never called her stupid, and she almost always beat up the people who did.

"This afternoon, we're going for ice cream." Quinn announced.

The rest of the group looked at her quizzically.

"You know, ice cream? To make her feel better? Eat your pain?"

"We've never had break-up pain before." Brittany spoke for the other three.

"Well, I have, and ice cream is a great band-aid."

* * *

><p>Happy new year everyone, Alex is gone! :) When I wrote this, I thought it was a bit abrupt. In retrospect, it's roughly why and how she broke up with Artie, so, whatevs!<p>

Two more chapters, with Brittana goodness coming up!


	9. Chapter 9

Santana decided she'd give Brittany a week before even mentioning any possibility of getting together. She didn't want to wait too long, since Brittany was a catch (although her newfound lesbianism did limit the pool of competitors), but she didn't want to push her. So she was somewhat surprised when Brittany came up to her locker after school the next day.

"Hi." She said softly.

Santana's breath caught slightly as it always did when suddenly faced with Brittany.

"Hi." She managed to say back.

"Can we talk?"

"Of course, Britt."

"I mean…we haven't really talked lately. At all. I know why." She rushed to finish. "But I miss you. Can I come over to your house?"

Santana just nodded.

They got a snack and settled into the living room sofa. Brittany nibbled on her goldfish. Santana loved the way she always ate them the same way – first she bit off the tail, and then she ate the rest of it. She had asked her why she did that, once (Santana just shoved the food in her mouth) and Brittany said she didn't want to bite off their heads.

Santana wasn't exactly sure if she trusted herself to say anything without rushing out with something inappropriate like "I'm in love with you be my girlfriend" so she was silent.

"It was really brave of you to sing Come to My Window." Brittany said suddenly.

Santana raised her eyebrows. "Um, thanks?"

"And you were really really good in Born this Way at Regionals."

"So were you."

"Do you still…I mean, would you still want to sing Melissa Etheridge with me?"

"I still love you, if that's what you mean." Santana said softly. "I haven't dated anyone else since then. I don't want to."

"San, I just broke up with Alex, and I don't think I should jump right into something else but…I still love you too. Can we start off by being friends again?"

Santana's face split into a grin. "Sure."

They spent the rest of the afternoon watching the Disney channel. Santana pretended to think it was silly but secretly she liked the shows as much as Brittany. At one point, Brittany laid her head on Santana's shoulder, and although she knew she wasn't supposed to read too much into it, the darker girl stopped breathing for a minute.

* * *

><p>Over the next few weeks, the girls rekindled their friendship, without benefits. They were inseparable again at school. Santana tried not to smirk openly at Alex in Glee when Brittany sat next to her and she watched sadly. They hung out as much as possible outside of school, watching endless Disney shows and even snuggling a little. Santana went jogging with Brittany to re-strengthen her leg and helped her remember to do her other physical therapy exercises. She figured they couldn't get too out of shape because they'd probably end up back on the Cheerios in the fall – Sue needed them. But they hadn't talked any further about their feelings since that first day. So Santana was surprised when Brittany came walking up to her locker one morning trying unsuccessfully to hide a flower behind her back.<p>

"Morning, Santana." She smiled shyly.

"Hi Britt." She decided to go along with the charade that she couldn't see the flower.

Brittany pulled the flower from behind her back and held it out to Santana.

"Will you go on a real date with me?" she asked quietly.

Santana blushed, and then felt stupid for blushing. "Is the flower for me?"

Brittany nodded.

"Nobody's ever gotten me a flower before."

"I know. I'm your best friend." The blonde girl grinned.

"Of course I'll go on a real date with you." She took the flower out of Brittany's hand.

"Do you want to plan it? I'm not so good with planning."

"Sure. Um, on Friday? I'll pick you up?"

Brittany grinned and turned to go. Santana grabbed her hand and turned her back around, gently backing her against the lockers. She leaned in and pressed a brief but firm kiss on the blonde's lips. "I can't wait until Friday." She whispered into Brittany's ear, then turned and walked away, still holding her flower.

Brittany leaned against the locker with a big smile on her face.

* * *

><p>"Why am I nervous? SHE asked ME out! And it's not like we haven't hooked up before. And I know she likes me." Santana grumbled, throwing herself on her bed, where Quinn already sat, filing her nails.<p>

"Exactly. So why again are you so freaked out about this?" She asked her friend.

"Because it has to be perfect." Santana said, totally seriously.

Quinn sighed. "You are so in love it's gross. Luckily for you, she's totally in love with you too, so it doesn't matter what happens tonight, she loves you already."

"But I've never been on a date with a girl."

"So?"

"So, she has. What if it's like, really different? What if I'm bad at it?"

"You do realize that I've never been on a date with a girl either, right?"

Santana flopped back on the bed in despair.

"Look, I'm sure it's not. You're going to Breadstix, right? You both have been there before. You should pay. You seem more butch than her."

Santana sat up and gave her friend a weird look.

"What? We get Showtime. I watched a couple episodes of The L Word."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Okay, so I pay, fine. Then I thought I'd take her for a walk in the park. She's crazy about the park."

"True. Good choice."

"Should I kiss her? More? Less?"

"On The L Word they pretty much just had sex. All the time. Plus, you kissed her in school, so yeah, kiss her. Shouldn't you be getting dressed? It's almost 6."

"Crap! Okay, help me pick."

Almost an hour later, Santana was dressed in a tight shirt that showed off her boobs (because she knew Brittany thought her boobs were hot), jeans (because Quinn had some idea that butch lesbians shouldn't wear skirts), and her leather jacket (because Quinn thought it was some sort of lesbian code). Santana was starting to wonder just how much of The L Word her friend had watched. And she made a note to check it out herself. She put on her normal makeup, and brushed her hair out, knowing Brittany liked it down. She stuck her phone and wallet in her jacket (because Quinn said there was no way a purse went with her look tonight), and the friends left her house.

"Don't forget, just have fun tonight, okay? She loves you, you love her, it's sweet. Don't stress out."

* * *

><p>Santana rang Brittany's doorbell at exactly 7:00, and the door opened within 5 seconds to reveal an excited-looking Brittany. The blonde girl had chosen to wear a dress that showed off nearly as much of her long legs as her Cheerio skirt used to. She had a purse slung over one arm already. Santana had a sneaking suspicion she'd been waiting at the door, and that made her warm and tingly inside. It made her even warmer and tinglier when Brittany stepped outside and kissed her briefly.<p>

"Mom, I'm leaving!" she yelled back inside the house, not waiting for an answer as she shut the door.

"Hi." She said belatedly.

"Hi." Santana said back. "You um, you look really beautiful."

Brittany blushed. "Thanks. You look really hot."

* * *

><p>"I love the park." Brittany said happily, slipping her hand into Santana's as they walked.<p>

"I know."

"You know me so well."

"That's a good thing, right?"

Brittany nodded.

They walked a little further in silence, listening to the sounds of the park. They stopped at a fence overlooking a small pond. Santana leaned forward onto the fence, Brittany by her side, with their arms touching.

"Thanks for planning this." Brittany said suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"Our date." She clarified. "It's confusing, being a lesbian, because I never know who's supposed to do things."

"Quinn says I'm the butch one so I'm supposed to do most of the stuff guys usually do."

"You talked to Quinn about it?" Brittany said, amused.

"I know, I know. But I was um, nervous, and I didn't know who else to talk to. She was really helpful, actually. Apparently she watches The L Word."

Brittany giggled. "That's a fun show. They have a lot of sex."

"That's what Quinn said."

"You've never seen it?"

Santana shook her head. "I was scared, for a long time, about things like that. You know, like when you wanted me to watch Imagine Me and You. I didn't want to watch it in case I liked it too much and got scared about what that meant. You're so much braver than me, Britt."

"You're brave too. It just took you a little longer." Brittany said, brushing Santana's hair behind her ear so she could see her eyes.

"No really, do you know how amazing you are? I love you so much, Brittany. Thank you for giving me another chance." She looked into Brittany's eyes, and couldn't restrain herself any longer. She leaned in and kissed her. Kissed her with every ounce of her being, trying to show her in one kiss what she'd been too scared to show her before. They finally parted, breathing heavily.


	10. Chapter 10

Prom tickets went on sale May 1st. It was almost funny to watch the havoc that this played on the entire student body that wasn't in serious relationships. Junior and senior boys started trying to figure out who to ask and started panicking over the possibility of getting turned down. Junior and senior girls tried to play cool that if they didn't get asked, they'd go stag and that was cool, though they rarely meant it. The brave ones asked boys out. The others were relieved if they got asked, even if it wasn't their dream date. Underclass girls were the flirtiest they ever were, since their only hope of going was to have an upperclass boy ask them. Underclass boys got depressed because their female classmates couldn't care less that they existed, and it was pretty unlikely for an upperclass girl to ask them.

The Glee club was not immune to prom hysteria. Mike and Tina had been shaky lately, but when he asked her to prom with a dozen red roses, they were temporarily strengthened. Mercedes had come to practice beaming because John Andrews, one of the senior male Cheerios, had asked her. Artie had looked down and mumbled something about how he had been thinking about asking her, and she'd gone off on him, accusing him of thinking that she was the kind of girl you could ask as a last resort. Quinn had looked over at Finn with a twinge of regret when Sam had sung her a song asking her to go with him. They'd broken up and gotten back together at least three times that year, and had been on a break. She'd rather been hoping that Finn would ask her, but she decided to accept the blond boy's request. It was a good thing, too, since Finn was working up the courage to ask Rachel. Alex was going stag with a group of her senior friends, as a statement (she actually meant it). Puck hadn't decided yet but he wasn't worried – he could always ask a sophomore Cheerio and there were plenty of them to go around.

Brittany watched all of these goings on with some discomfort. Both she and Santana had gone to prom the last two years with random dates (though they'd promptly ditched them as soon as they got in). She definitely wanted to go with her girlfriend, but Santana hadn't mentioned it yet. She tried to steer them past the ticket table at lunch every day, but the darker girl didn't seem to get the message. She was worried that even though Santana was okay with being with her in school that it wouldn't extend to something as official as prom.

Actually, Santana was worried about HOW to ask her. Recently Brittany had made her watch a marathon of one of her new 'favorite shows' called South of Nowhere, which mostly revolved around a teenage lesbian couple. On one episode, the two girls on the show had both come up with creative ways to ask each other to the prom, and Brittany had sighed about how cute it was. Santana was determined to top the TV girls, but she hadn't figured out how yet. Of course she thought about singing, but Sam had beaten her to that, and anyway it wasn't very original – it was how everyone in Glee went about anything.

She finally had an idea when she overheard Brittany talking to Kurt about prom.

"So you are going to ask him?" Brittany was saying excitedly.

"I think so. Even if he doesn't like me, I'd rather go with a guy you know? We could always go as friends. And at least we won't be the only gay couple!"

"Santana hasn't asked me yet." Brittany said in a small voice. "I'm afraid she is still scared to be with me in public, to tell people that we're together."

Santana's eyes widened. She hadn't considered that Brittany might think she didn't want to go with her. She'd better do this soon. And in a way that told Brittany she wanted the whole school to know they were together.

* * *

><p>Becky nervously unlocked the door that contained the PA system with Coach Sylvester's keys.<p>

"You're sure Coach won't be mad at me? And Brittany will be happy?"

"I promise, Becky. I'll explain to Coach that it was all me and I made you do it. And Brittany will be very happy."

The short girl smiled. She liked Brittany a lot. "Okay. I'll go put her keys back. Maybe she won't even know it was me."

Santana locked the door behind her so that if Sue or Principal Figgins happened by they couldn't stop her. Her heart was pounding. She was proud to be with Brittany…but this was serious. She switched on the system.

"Hello McKinley High. This is Santana Lopez." Brittany was daydreaming in math class when she heard her girlfriend's voice.

"I have something to tell you all. As many of you know, I'm dating Brittany Pierce. Actually, I'm madly in love with her. I want to ask her to go to prom with me, and I want everyone to know. So Brittany, will you go to prom with me?"

"YES!" Brittany yelled in class with a grin on her face. The class giggled.

"I'm hoping you are saying yes right now. But since I can't hear you, I'm going to go to your locker now. If you will be my date to prom, please come meet me. I love you, Brittany Pierce."

She clicked off the PA system and rushed out of the room, glad that no authority figure had made it there yet. She laughed out loud at how great that had felt to do. The bell rang. She'd timed this so that Brittany would be able to leave class to come to her locker. She'd also done it during Brittany's class that was furthest away from her locker, so that she could be standing in front of it with a single red rose by the time she got there.

So that's how Brittany found her, leaning casually against the bank of lockers. Her face split into a grin.

"Of course I'll go to prom with you!" She kissed Santana passionately. "I love you too Santana Lopez."

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, Santana's stunt brought her plans to the attention of Principal Figgins too. The next day, she and Brittany were summoned to his office. She went pale when she saw both of their parents sitting there already, assuming she was in trouble for her use of the PA system, but unclear about why her girlfriend was in trouble. Brittany took her hand and walked in.<p>

Santana's parents took in their linked hands.

"Mr. Figgins has just told us something interesting, Santana." Her father said pointedly.

She got angry. "Whose business is yours to go and tell my parents anything about me?"

"Santana, you announced publicly that you intend to go as a same-sex couple to the prom."

"So?"

"We have never had an openly gay couple attend prom at this school. I'm not sure it's a good idea, Miss Lopez."

"Also, perhaps you could have filled in your father and I on this new…development in your life, and your plans to be so open at prom." Her mother said.

"I think we should calm down." Brittany's mother said.

"That's easy for you to say – she told you herself."

Brittany had come out to her parents while dating Alex. They knew she was dating Santana too, and she'd come floating home yesterday and told them her girlfriend asked her to prom.

"Yes, mom, Brittany is my girlfriend. It's not like we really talked about my boyfriends, I didn't see why we'd talk about this."

"This is a little different. I don't think you should be parading around prom with her. What will people think?"

"I don't care what people think."  
>"Me either." Brittany put in.<p>

"I'm afraid it's not all about what the two of you care about. I'm afraid I can't allow it." Figgins said.

"What?" Santana's eyes flashed anger.

"Prom is a cherished ritual, and people take it very seriously. There are many at this school who may be offended by your relationship. I will not have our prom made a mockery of."

"Now wait a second." Brittany's mother spoke up before Santana could. "It's not my daughter's fault that there are homophobes at this school. She has every right to go to prom with whoever she wants."

"Prom is not a right. I can ban students at my discretion." He said.

"Are you actually saying that you are going to ban the girls from going together?" Santana's father asked.

"Right now I'm asking them to consider the consequences."

"I don't care about the consequences. Britt and I want to go to prom, and we want to go together. Can he really stop us?" she asked her father.

Her father looked at the two girls, holding hands tightly as if their life depended on it.

"No, he can't. If you want to go with Brittany I'll make sure you get to go with Brittany, okay baby?"

Brittany laid her head on her girlfriend's shoulder happily.

"But…" her mother started to speak up.

"We can – and will – talk about this as a family later. But Mr. Figgins, if I have to, I'll sue the school to make you let them go."

"We'll sue too." Brittany's father added. "Are you aware that students across the country have sued their schools for this and have always won? I have a close friend who is a very good lawyer. You will not win. I promise you. You can either let the girls go on your own, or you can drag the school through an embarrassing trial and have the court make you let them go anyway."

"Look, I'm not homophobic." Figgins said, throwing his hands up. "I just don't want to cause a scene or offend any students."

"Our daughters will not cause a scene. If anyone causes a scene, which I doubt, it will be the homophobes." Brittany's mother said. "And doesn't everyone know about you two already, sweetie?"

Brittany nodded.

"There you go. If they were going to be harassed, it would happen here in school too. And if anyone is offended, it's their problem, not our daughters'."

Figgins sighed. "Fine, you win, I don't want a trial."

Brittany grinned.

* * *

><p>"Bye honey, see you at home later." Brittany's mom hugged her.<p>

"Bye mom."

The Pierces walked off, leaving Santana and her parents standing awkwardly. Brittany sensed this was going to be uncomfortable so she left with a look of regret toward her girlfriend.

"Thanks for standing up for me." She said.

"Look, Santana, I'm not going to lie to you, this came as rather a shock, and it might take us a while to be okay with it. But nobody pushes my daughter around and gets away with it." Her father said.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just wasn't sure how or if you'd be okay with it."

"So…you're gay?" her mother asked.

"Honey, we can have this conversation later." Dr. Lopez said quietly.

"No it's okay. I don't know. I might be bisexual. Or gay. I'm not really sure, and I don't know if it matters right now, because I just love Brittany."

* * *

><p>Kurt had actually gotten up to courage to ask his friend Blaine to prom, and to his delight the other boy had agreed to go as an actual romantic date. Somehow he had also convinced Brittany and Santana, Rachel and Finn, Tina and Mike, Mercedes and her date, and Sam and Quinn to all go together and rent a limo. They'd invited Artie to join them, but the boy was pouting about not having a date and decided to boycott the prom. The six couples, along with their parents, met at Kurt and Finn's new house to take pictures before heading to dinner and the dance.<p>

Brittany could hardly take her eyes off Santana. Her girlfriend was wearing a dark red strapless dress that was tight except for a long slit that went nearly up to her hip. Brittany herself was wearing a blue dress with a halter top that was more free-flowing than Santana's. She'd insisted that they buy the dresses separately and not see each other's until the day of prom, but she'd also suggested that they make sure they didn't clash, so Quinn had gone with both girls to pick them out and had helped Santana pick out matching corsages with both red and blue flowers. Santana walked almost shyly over to her girlfriend.

"My mom says she wants to take a picture of us putting these on each other." She said, holding up her corsage and rolling her eyes.

"That's cute, Santana. I'll get my mom too." She motioned for her mother to come over, and they slowly put each other's corsages on for perfect photo ops.

"You know, it's not what I pictured when she was small, but it seems right, doesn't it?" Brittany's mother said to Santana's.

"I did have trouble at first." Mrs. Lopez admitted. "But I just want my baby to be happy, and they seem very happy." She put up her camera and snapped a shot of the happy couple, who were gazing into each other's eyes, totally unaware of their mothers.

"Okay, pose time!" Rachel announced. She orchestrated a long series of poses of each couple separately and all of them together. She was only stopped when Kurt pointedly told her that they needed to leave or they wouldn't have time for dinner.

"Bye mom." Brittany hugged her mother goodbye.

"Now, you are all going to stay somewhere tonight, right? I don't care if you drink, just don't drive, okay?"

"Yeah Rachel's dads said we could have a post-prom party and sleepover at their house. We won't drive."

* * *

><p>Figgins shouldn't have worried, at least not about Brittany and Santana. The student body was quite used to them by now. Blaine and Kurt caused more of a stir, especially the first time they took to the floor to slow dance, but the other Glee couples had talked about this and all formed a circle around them. Puck, dancing with his freshman Cheerio date, glared at anyone daring to look at "his boy Kurt" and open confrontation was avoided.<p>

Brittany draped her arms loosely around Santana's neck.

"I like dancing with you. We fit." She pointed out.

Santana smirked. "I have the better position."

"Why?" Brittany asked, confused. She liked her position.

"Well, first of all, because I have my arms on your waist, which means I can do this easily." She slid her hands down to quickly grab Brittany's ass, eliciting a giggle from her girlfriend.

"And second, because I have a better view." She leaned forward to place a kiss on Brittany's cleavage, making her point.

"No fair, it's not my fault I'm taller." Brittany pouted.

Santana just chuckled and slid closer, allowing their bodies to press against each other.

She stretched up to kiss Brittany softly.

"I love you, Brittany."

"I love you too, Santana."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading and reviewing, everyone! I hope you liked it!<p> 


End file.
